Pheasants still sometimes seen

Photo Ivan Plotnikov
Translation: Liis
 
Pheasant       Faasan      Phasianus colchicus
 
Pheasants, with an Asian origin, were brought to Europe already in Roman times, to Estonia before the First World War, more precisely 1905, by manor owners of course to make the hunting fauna even more rich in species. In small numbers they are raised here today too, most diligent are the Lithuanians who sell them to England as game birds – pheasants are the most hunted game birds in the world in North as well as South America, Australia and even New Zealand.
 
It is nice when we sometimes notice a small pheasant group at their doings. In the Kuusalu area where Ivan spotted and photographed them in his home yard, there are suitable feeding and sheltering places close to hedges for them in the cultured landscape. Foxes and raccoon dogs won’t leave them alone, and small pheasant populations are not viable for long.
A little about the exterior of pheasants: the plumage of the cocks is very variable and this is due to the mingling of subspecies as well as living conditions. The body plumage is streaked in golden brown, with green, purple as well as white spots. The cock’s head has a small crest and greenish-grey plumage and the red wattles are visible from far; the tail is long and splendid and can be half the body length. The hen has a modest grey-brown-patterned plumage, the tail feathers are also somewhat shorter and duller. The hen weighs about a kilo and the male is about one-fourth heavier. As for the rest, they are gallinaceous birds and a little silly at that ….
 
If all goes well for the pheasants straying in our nature, they will start breeding in May and the clutch can contain about ten eggs or even more. The hen incubates for four weeks, after the hatching the chicks fledge to some extent already at ten days of age.
 


 

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